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MALAYSIA Hockey League Premier Division champions Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) beat star-studded Terengganu Hockey Team (THT) 2-1 to keep a tight grip on the League title at the national stadium in Bukit Jalil yesterday.
THT were supposed to pose a threat to double champions KLHC, but their First Round effort fizzled out and at the stands of the second pitch was the Terengganu Menteri Besar Datuk Ahmad Razif, who unfortunately came when his team played lousy hockey after three consecutive wins.
"Im happy my players claimed the First Round victory over THT, but we will be playing three matches next week (including the midweek Sapura match) and we need to win all by keeping our feet on the ground. Also, we will be playing THT in Terengganu in the Second Round, and so, to celebrate early would be foolish," said KLHC coach K. Dharmaraj.
KLHC were caught napping in the 26th minute when Kang Moon Kweon slotted in the lead for THT, after which, the fans only cheered for missed sitters as the two early favourites were blunt in the semicircle.
And KLHC were lucky when a comical situation, where the entire THT defense stood rooted for 10 seconds, saw Syamim Yusuf slot in the equaliser with a slow-motion attempt.
National player Razie Rahim, the best penalty corner flicker in the country, then gave KLHC the lead when he perfected a drive in the 40th minute.
THT won 5 penalty coners after that, but were unable to crack former national skipper Roslan Jamaluddin and the defending champions walked away with three crucial points.
In another match, UniKL won their first point of the league when they held Maybank to a 1-1 draw. UniKL took the lead off Phillipp Stahr (39th) while Jiwa Mohan saved Maybank with a 45th minute effort.
RESULTS: Maybank 1 UniKL 1, KLHC 2 Terengganu HT 1, Tenaga 1 Sapura 0.
STANDINGS
P W D L F A Pts
TERENGGANU 4 3 0 1 14 6 9
KLHC 3 3 0 0 11 5 9
TENAGA 4 2 0 2 8 7 6
SAPURA 3 1 1 1 4 4 4
MAYBANK 4 0 2 2 7 11 2
UNIKL 4 0 1 3 2 13 1
TERENGGANU Hockey Team's (THT) coach Sarjit Singh believes his charges received a timely wake-up call from Maybank before their big game against defending champions Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC) in the Malaysia Hockey League Premier Division today.
THT were 2-3 down at one point, before they turned the tables on Maybank and won 4-3.
"The Maybank wake up call was timely, and I think it is what we needed before playing KLHC. Maybank showed us what can happen if we take our feet off the pedal, and we can't afford anymore lapses, especially against KLHC today as we aim to wrest the title from them by keeping a clean record in the First Round," said Sarjit.
THT were a jaded side, despite fielding five South Koreans for the first time in the MHL, and were saved by bungling Maybank forwards who missed at least three sitters.
"Maybank played very well and I think that they at least deserved one point from the match, and we can't afford the same against KLHC” said THT coach Sarjit Singh.
KLHC are one match behind, as their Sapura encounter on Saturday was washed away by rain and they will play the return during midweek.
Tenaga Nasional, the only all-local outfit in the MHL, will face Sapura today and skipper Madzli Ikmar said: "Although our management asked us to hire local talent, our coaching set-up declined because we believe in helping pur local talent grow.
"It is sad to see some budding talent not playing in the MHL, as their spot has been taken over by foreign imports. We have many youth in this current team, and I believe in three years time, we will be at our very best.. better than teams which rely on imports," said Madzli, a former international.
Tenaga, three points after three matches, will meet undefeated Sapura today.
SUNDAY: Maybank v UniKL (6pm, Pitch I), KLHC v Terengganu HT (6pm, Pitch II), Tenaga v Sapura (8pm, Pitch II).
STANDINGS
P W D L F A Pts
TERENGGANU 3 3 0 0 13 4 9
KLHC 2 2 0 0 9 4 6
SAPURA 2 1 1 0 4 3 4
TENAGA 3 1 0 2 7 7 3
MAYBANK 3 0 1 2 6 10 1
UNIKL 3 0 0 3 1 12 0
TERENGGANU Hockey Team struggled to beat Maybank 4-3 in the Malaysia Hockey League Premier Division at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil yesterday.
South Korean import Jang Jong Hyun, who only arrived Thursday, nailed a hat-trick of penalty corners in the 21st, 37th and 58th, while the other goal was scored by Firhan Ashaari (47th).
Maybank's goals were scored by Amirullah Zainol (28th), Syafiq Zain (38th) and Jiwa Mohan (45th).
In another match,Tenaga Nasional notched their first win when they beat UniKL 3-0 with goals from Shahril Saabah (12th), Izad Hakimi (35th) and Ramadan Rosli (47th).
"Realistically speaking, we have lost the League title fight and hopefully this win will spur us to play much better in the Second Round which will prepare us for the knock-out stages," said skipper Madzli Ikmar.
UniKL coach Arul Selvaraj was also looking forward to the Second Round: "Even though we are at the bottom of the six-team pool with three defeats, I feel my players are improving with every game, and we will be mych better prepared for the Second Round."
UniKL lost their penalty corner flicker Jonas Weinhardt, from Germany, to hamstring and will be out for at least two weeks.
Meanwhile, a waterlogged Pitch I caused the Sapura-Kuala Lumpur HC match to be abandoned to midweek.
RESULTS: Sapura v KLHC (match abandoned, rain), UniKL 0 Tenaga 3, Maybank 3 Terengganu HT 4.
SUNDAY: Maybank v UniKL (6pm, Pitch I), KLHC v Terengganu HT (6pm, Pitch II), Tenaga v Sapura (8pm, Pitch II).
STANDINGS
P W D L F A Pts
TERENGGANU 3 3 0 0 13 4 9
KLHC 2 2 0 0 9 4 6
SAPURA 2 1 1 0 4 3 4
TENAGA 3 1 0 2 7 7 3
MAYBANK 3 0 1 2 6 10 1
UNIKL 3 0 0 3 1 12 0
TAI Beng Hai looked shell-shocked when he was named as the national seniors coach by Malaysian Hockey Confederation vice president Datuk Nur Azmi Ahmad.
What was supposed to be a Team Management Meeting to chart next year's plans turned out to be a veto decision taken by the MHC president Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah as even the Coaching Committee did not meet to decide on this matter.
And while the MHC are still on the hunt for a foreign coach, former national coach Beng Hai will sit on this ongoing coaches' musical chair.
"Beng Hai has been named by our president to coach the national seniors for the World League Round Two in Singapore, and Arul Selvaraj will now concentrate on the juniors," said Nur Azmi.
The Round Two will be held from Jan 17-25 and Malaysia, the top seed, must finish among the top-three to qualify for the World League Semi-finals which offers entry into the Rio De Janeiro 2016 Olympics.
Beng Hai, who is coaching Sapura in the Malaysia Hockey League, will only have his men when the MHL ends on Dec 14. Fitness could be his main problem.
"All the national players are in the MHL and I believe their respective clubs also conduct physical training and they should be ready when to report in good shape at the end of the MHL.
"Although I will only have one month for centralised training, I will also be approaching MHL teams to release their players at lease once a week to train with me," said Beng Hai.
Arul, who wore three hats before yesterday, is pleased that he will be able to fully concentrate on the juniors for the Junior Asia Cup at the end of next year.
He is also free to coach UniKL in the MHL as his contract allows it.
"As I said before I am ready to coach any level, and now that I have been fully entrusted with the juniors, my focus will be much more specific," said Arul.
In the World League Round Two Malaysia, ranked 13th in the world, will play Bangladesh, Japan, Poland, Singapore, Oman and Ukraine. One more team will be the winner of the last Round One tournament which will be played in Suva, Fiji from Dec 6-13. The teams involved are Fiji, Samoa, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu.
Malaysia need to finish in the top three to make the semis cut and play either in Belgium or Argentina.
On another note the MHC have yet to submit the minutes of the EOGM held during the Sultan of Johor Cup to the Sports Commissioner's office and this could delay the elections slated for early next year.
TERENGGANU Hockey Team's five South Koreans finally arrived to help their cause in a crucial Malaysia Hockey League Premier Division weekend.
Terengganu and Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC), with two wins each, are the early favourites, and will go head on this Sunday to decide who is the best in Round One action.
But before that, THT must overcome Maybank, while KLHC face Sapura today.
"We have been playing with 14, as Engku Malek was injured, while the Koreans only arrived today (yesterday) and we had light training in the evening. Now, my bench is much stronger and I believe we will take the advantage going into the Second Round if we win six points this weekend.
THT after demolishing UniKL 7-0 to put to the grind by Tenaga and could only play to a narrow 2-1 win.
The Koreans - Kang Moon Kyu, Seo Jong Ho, Kang Moon Kweon, Bae Jeong Seok, and Jang Jong Hyun, are expected to give Maybank a torrid time.
Defending champions KLHC are growing in strength as they beat Tenaga 5-3 in Charity Shield and then a convincing 4-1 win over Maybank last Sunday.
“We went into the match (against Maybank) just looking for three points and we did not expect to get an easy win. We were fortunate to take an early lead and pushed on from there,” said KLHC coach K. Dharmaraj.
Today, winless Tenaga and UniKL will be going for their first points: "I think overall the team played well against THT last Sunday. It was a tight match and we had many good chances, I’m very happy with the way my team performed. But the thing that we have to work on is our ability to finish off our chances in front of goal,” Saif Tenaga coach Nor Saiful Zaini.
FRIDAY: Sapura v KLHC (6pm, Pitch I), UniKL v Tenaga (6pm, Pitch II), Maybank v Terengganu HT (8pm, Pitch II).
SUNDAY: Maybank v UniKL (6pm, Pitch I), KLHC v Terengganu HT (6pm, Pitch II), Tenaga v Sapura (8pm, Pitch II).
STANDINGS
P W D L F A Pts
TERENGGANU 2 2 0 0 9 1 6
KLHC 2 2 0 0 9 4 6
SAPURA 2 1 1 0 4 3 4
MAYBANK 2 0 1 1 3 6 1
TENAGA 2 0 0 2 4 7 0
UNIKL 2 0 0 2 1 9 0
